


The Birds and the Butterflies

by MerakiMela



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Crushes, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, F/M, Familial bonding, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Family mystery, Flirting, Jealousy, LadyNoir - Freeform, Oblivious Adrien, Secret Identity, Supportive Adrien, bisexual awakening, emotionally attuned felicity, felinette - Freeform, gabriel redemption, secret cousin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-10-22 04:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17655737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerakiMela/pseuds/MerakiMela
Summary: When an unknown cousin comes to Paris for a work collab, Adrien is ecstatic to spend time with her. He isn't sure how he feels about her flirting with his very good friend Marinette, though. Maybe his feelings become clearer when he sees that Marinette seems to like it. Does he want his good friend and new favourite family member to be happy together, or are there feelings that he didn't realise were there stopping him from letting it happen? Will he even have time to think about it while he's trying to figure out what happened between his father and uncle so many years ago?





	1. Alice and the White Rabbit

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Felix flirting with Marinette to make Adrien jealous fic, but ~GAY~ and more sweet familial bonding than full on jealousy. It everything I love about the trope with everything I hate about it removed, because self care is important even when it comes to writing fics.

“Marinette, why are you rushing? You have plenty of time until school starts.” Sabine called out to Marinette as the teenage girl frantically shovelled croissants and cookies into a paper bag.

“I forgot I had a class president meeting this morning! It’s meant to start any minute now!” Marinette exclaimed loudly in her panic, before pivoting towards the front of the bakery and sprinting out the door. Before her mother could finish shouting a warning for her to be careful, Marinette had already stepped on a poorly placed pile of fliers and found herself falling backwards towards the pavement. While clenching her eyes shut and resigning herself to await whatever bumps and bruises were coming her way, she suddenly felt a set of arms catch her, one arm supporting her neck and the other wrapping around her lower back. Peeking her eyes open, she blinked as she adjusted to the bright sunlight as she tried to take in the face of whoever caught her. The first thing she noticed was a captivating and familiar set of green eyes.

“A-Adrien?” Marinette squeaked out, cursing her own bad luck that the blonde Adonis always seemed to catch her at her worst. The brows above the green eyes furrowed and quirked in confusion, head tilting enough to bounce the golden fringe that adorned it. Marinette fought back releasing a dreamy sigh. He really is too beautiful to be real.

“What?” A feminine voice questioned out of the lips Marinette had been trying not to stare at, the sound shocking Marinette out of her revere. This was not Adrien.

“Hubbuh –Juh –Wha…” Marinette garbled out, brain too busy processing the new information to give her eloquence. The person who was not Adrien looked concerned, face moving the same as how Adrien’s would if he was concerned, which only confused Marinette further.

“Are you okay?” They asked in the same girlish voice that was definitely not Adrien’s. Without more thought than to test if they were in fact real, Marinette reached a hand to their face and traced her thumb over the apple of the cheek that was so jarringly similar to Adrien’s. A gasp burst out from the peachy lips, and the pupils dilated under now fluttering eyelashes. Just as Marinette found the temptation to pull the face in towards her own, a car horn from right beside them blared, shocking them both out of their embrace. Now no longer face to face, Marinette looked her mystery person up and down to see long, golden blonde hair swept into a low messy bun, a thin black choker around the throat, and an open oversized white hoodie over a black crop top and high-waisted blue denim shorts. This girl was clearly not Adrien. The girl’s expression was riddled with disappointment as she stared at the car that had honked.

“Ah, come on! I just wanted to go to a real Parisian bakery while we are here! What is wrong with one pastry?” She groaned. Instead of calling out, whoever was in the car simply honked again. The girl sighed in defeat before turning back to Marinette.

“I have to go. I…hope you’re okay.” The girl farewelled sadly. The expression matched Adrien so closely, Marinette felt her heart skip a beat. Reaching into her paper bag, she pulled out one of her croissants and handed it to the girl. Her green eyes lit up with wonder and disbelief at the golden pastry in her hands.

“To say thank you. For catching me.” Marinette explained softly. She knew it meant more to the girl than it did to her, as she still had enough for everyone at –

“THE MEETING! I’M LATE!” Marinette yelled in realisation, before bolting off toward the school once more, leaving a very grateful and confused blonde girl holding a croissant in her wake.

* * *

 

“Dude, you should have seen it! The pizza was longer than me and we still managed to finish it!” Nino exclaimed enthusiastically as he shared the details of his family night out. Adrien let out a whistle to let him know he was impressed.

“I’m guessing you won’t want pizza when we hang out with the girls tomorrow, then?” Adrien assumed with a playful tone, a grin spreading over his face when he was met with a dramatic groan.

“Bullseye, bro. I don’t think I’ll be able to even look at pizza again for like…three days!” At Nino’s answer, Adrien let out a burst of laughter. He really loved how silly his best friend can be sometimes. Nino wanted to be cool, but he never acted too cool to enjoy anything, so it was a refreshing change of pace from the fashion industry people he worked with. Adrien was low-key dreading the lunchtime shoot that was coming up today. He’d be doing partner work with a model he hadn’t met before. When father had begun explaining the international work she had done he tuned out. If this girl was as insufferable as some of the other international models he had worked with, he’d just hear all this again from her anyway.

“We’re losing the patient! Give me two thousand bolts!” Nino shouted, snapping Adrien out of his distracted line of thought. Before he could stop him, Nino threw his hands on Adrien’s chest and abdomen and pretended to shock him, causing Adrien to giggle as he swept his friend’s hands away.

“Nino, I’m pretty sure defibrillators don’t go that high.” He informed, still giggling. Nino shrugged.

“It might not have been medically accurate, but it sure did work, didn’t it? You were gone, man.”

“Sorry, I was just distracted.” Adrien apologised meekly.

“Thinking about your five hour shoot today with a complete stranger?” Nino asked, his voice shifting to a sympathetic tone. Adrien nodded grimly.

“You never know, dude. She might be cool.” Nino offered in reassurance.

“Who might be cool?” Adrien looked up to see Alya enter the room, quickly followed by Marinette, who seemed more distracted than usual.

“The model Adrien has to work with today. He’s never met her before and now he has to do a five hour shoot with her.” Nino explained to his girlfriend as she leant over his desk to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“Sounds like a bit of a nightmare if she’s annoying.” Alya commented as she made her way to her seat.

“That’s kind of what I’m dreading. A few of the big name international models I’ve met before have been chill, but a lot of been pretty up themselves. If she talks too much about herself she might make the shoot run even longer.” Adrien scoffed, winning an amused snort from Alya. He glanced over at Marinette to see how she reacted, only to find her staring off into space.

“What do you think, Marinette?” Alya prompted, nudging her elbow into her side.

“Uh…what?” Marinette mumbled as she was startled back into reality.

“Adrien’s afraid he’ll be stuck in a five hour photo shoot from hell with a Chloe-like model. What do you think his chances are?” Alya asked. Adrien went to argue with her choice of words, but found he couldn’t. As much as Chloe as improved, she was still very self-indulgent. He felt Marinette’s attention shift to him, so he refocused on her. She still looked pretty out of it, but at least she was making vaguely eye contact.

“If the fashion industry has room for someone like you, there’s every chance you could work with someone as awesome as you.” She stated warmly with a dream-like voice. Adrien felt heat creep up into his cheeks as he looked into her soft, unfocused eyes.

“Th-thanks, Marinette. Wow, I actually feel better about the shoot now.” He said brightly, turning back to the front before she could snap out of it and see him blushing. Luckily, Mme Bustier chose then to enter the room and begin the lesson, giving Adrien something else to focus on.

Before Adrien knew it, the time had come to be picked up for the shoot. After a quick confirmation with Nino and the girls for their plans the next day, he made his way to the company car that was waiting at the front of the school and offered the occupants, Nathalie and the Gorilla, a greeting as he entered the vehicle. On the drive over, Nathalie went over the plan for the shoot, before moving on to how long he was to practise piano before the scheduled family dinner. Why she had elected to call it “family dinner” instead of “dinner with your father” was beyond him. It didn’t take very long to get to the shoot location, which appeared to be some sort of warehouse turned studio. As he walked to the entrance with the Gorilla, he noticed Nathalie walk towards another company car. She appeared to sense his focus and paused before facing him.

“My attention is needed on another project so I won’t be staying. I will see you later this evening.” She explained blankly, turning away from him to continue on her way. Adrien held back expressing his disappointment. If the girl he was working with was overly touchy and flirty, Nathalie was a lot better at scaring girls off than the Gorilla. Nothing stopping him from going inside, Adrien nodded to the Gorilla and made his way to the entrance.

Within the large studio, there were multiple sets for different shoots built in the different corners of the space. The biggest set was an enormous green screen with large rigs in front of it. Judging by the harnesses attached, the shoot was going to a flying shot. Adrien winced, remembering how the last ad campaign that involved flying went. Hopefully with two people, the focus wouldn’t be completely on him and he’d only be chased half as much. Already feeling grateful for the other model, he began wondering where she was.

“Adrien! There you are! Now you’re here, let’s get you and Felicity off to hair and makeup.” A familiar assistant director greeted, before waving a signal to someone at the catering table who was talking to a blonde girl. At the signal, they said something inaudible to the girl before walking away. The girl seemed to take a deep breathe, and when she turned around, he lost his own. Of all the things he was expecting from this girl, he wasn’t expecting her to look so much like his mother.


	2. Hearthbreaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chat Noir take on a chilling new villain

Adrien stared at the girl, who looked back at him with a startled expression, as if he reminded her of someone as well. He felt himself step towards her, almost desperate to talk to her and see if she sounded like his mother too. He knew it wasn’t really his mother, but the resemblance was too profound for there to not be a connection. He had almost made it to her before the sound of nearby screams made everyone freeze.

“Ugh! We were just about to – fine! Okay people, this one sounds too close so let’s raincheck the shoot. Don’t worry about the equipment, let’s just lock up and head to the safe zones.” A woman that Adrien assumed was the director of the shoot called out to the crew.

“Wait, what’s going on?” The girl who looked like his mother asked, looking extremely confused. It was jarring to hear her voice; she sounded very similar to his mother but her accent was off. It made sense, considering she was an international model, but it was still startling. Adrien didn’t get to hear if anyone had answered her, as suddenly he felt himself get lifted up and carried away very swiftly. It appeared that the Gorilla was not going to take any chances today, knowing full well how quickly Adrien can vanish at the first sign of an akuma. Before he knew it, he was being put in the car and they were driving away from the warehouse. Seeing the stressed look on his bodyguard’s face in the rear view mirror, he decided to wait until he was in his room before sneaking off. Hopefully Ladybug could hold off until then. Apparently not being trusted to walk into the estate, the Gorilla grabbed Adrien and carried him all the way to his room, dropping him carefully onto the floor before locking the door on his way out. Adrien sighed as he plugged his music device into the speaker, a track of classical music playing automatically. His father must have been really harsh on the man the last time Adrien snuck away under his watch if he was going to these efforts. Adrien almost felt bad that it was all for nothing.

“Plagg, claws out!”

~

Ladybug landed with a soft thud on the flat rooftop, before surveying the area in hopes of getting an idea of what was going on. It seemed like the akuma had already passed through this area, as the street was littered with citizens who were going through various stages of freezing, despite the warm weather. She spotted a woman hugging an older-looking woman, looking extremely upset.

“Maman! I’m sorry I didn’t protect you!” The woman cried out. Suddenly , the ice sculpture that was once the woman’s mother cracked to life. The animated ice being pushed the woman away harshly with a grunt.

“If you really loved me then you would have protected me. Why should I love you?” The living sculpture spoke in an unnatural, gravelly voice. Before the daughter could respond, the sculpture began swinging at her violently. Deciding it was time to take action, Ladybug swung down, scooping the woman into her arms before zipping away. Once a safe distance away, Ladybug put the woman down in a hidden alleyway.

“Was that your mother? What happened?”

“I was taking my mother out to lunch when this akuma appeared and blasted my mother with a strange energy beam. It was like the akuma was draining the warmth out of her body, maman was shivering so much until she turned to ice. When she came back to life, well… she’s never talked to me so coldly; I don’t understand what happened.” The woman explained, knees shaking. Ladybug nodded with comprehension. It seemed that the akuma could take both physical and emotional warmth from people.

“Please don’t worry, madame. It was all the work of the akuma. Your mother will be back to herself once Chat Noir and I fix everything.” Ladybug reassured warmly. The woman called out a thank you as Ladybug took to the sky once more with her yo-yo. Thinking about how many affected people could hurt their loved ones urged her to want to end this fight quickly. A pit formed in her stomach, not wanting to imagine not being able to love her parents, her friends, or Adrien. Focusing on Adrien filled the pit with a warm gentle feeling, as she imagined his bright smile, his captivating green eyes, his long, shiny blonde hair –

Ladybug fumbled with her yo-yo as the thought startled her, landing on an abandoned bus with an ungraceful thunk. Adrien didn’t have long hair, why did she imagine that? She felt her eyes widen as she realised that she had begun to imagine that girl from outside the bakery. Ladybug groaned as she rose to her feet. She’d been stuck thinking about that girl for most of the morning and thought she’d finally got it out of her system.

“Someone seems a little distracted today. Got meow-n your mind?” Ladybug didn’t need to turn around to know who had said such an awful pun.

“You wish, kitty. Come on, let’s find that akuma.” She commanded, before launching her yo-yo at a nearby chimney and taking off. Chat Noir laughed, before she heard the tell-tale signs of him following behind her using his staff.

“Jokes aside, you did seem really distracted. Do you want to talk about it?” Chat Noir asked, dropping his joking tone for a more serious one. Ladybug couldn’t help but smile at that. He could be really sweet when he wasn’t laying on the flirting so thickly. Realising she was in danger of getting more distracted, she shook her head and refocused.

“Maybe after, but right now we need to find that akuma.”

“Oka – look out!” Before she could react, hands grabbed around her waste and jolted her backwards, right as a beam shot past her face. With an arm reaching around her waist, Chat Noir pressed her flush against him as he landed. Ladybug looked to where the beam came from to finally get a glimpse of the akumatised victim. It was a teenage-looking girl shrouded in a Grecian head veil, wearing a full length dress. The part of her appearance that stood out the most was the fact that from her head to her waist, she was a rich blue colour, and from her hips down the colour formed a gradient from blue to purple and then a bright red from her calves to her feet.

“You might have used your strong bond to avoid my attack, but soon you’ll be giving each other the cold shoulder and it will be too easy to take your Miraculous!” The akumatised victim declared.

“That will ne – Chat Noir can you put me down?” Ladybug interrupted herself, giving him a bemused look and wiggling her dangling feet to make a point. His bright green eyes widened with surprise, before he quickly dropped her to her feet and stepped back away from her.

“That will never happen!” Ladybug called back defiantly. The victim growled, blasting another beam in their direction which they both dodged with ease.

“You know what, Frosty? For an akuma with ice powers, you sure are a hot-head.” Chat Noir teased, winning another growl.

“My name is Hearthbreaker, and I will show everyone how it feels to be hurt by a cold heart!” Hearthbreaker cried out emotionally. Ladybug couldn’t help but feel for her. If her guess was right, whoever she loved must have coldly rejected her without caring about her feelings. In the early days of her crush on Adrien, she was very afraid that he would mock her for her feelings. Luckily, these days she knows him well enough to know he’d never do something like that to her, but she could still understand how the victim was feeling. Ladybug couldn’t dwell on her sympathy for too long, as Hearthbreaker began rapid firing beams at her and her partner.

As the fight continued, Ladybug felt her stamina waning. Any attempt to get closer to the victim to try to spot the akumatised item was met with failure. Luckily, Hearthbreaker’s attempts to hit them with her attacks were meeting the same fate. Unfortunately, the villain appeared to have a way to change that fate. After a moment of what looked like strained focus, Hearthbreaker sent a flame straight up, like a beacon calling for allies. It turns out, that’s exactly what it was. Within moments, the civilians that had been turned into cold monsters began swarming around Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“If you want to feel warm again, you’ll bring me those Miraculous’!” Hearthbreaker commanded. With the promise of feeling heat again, the minions charged at the heroes, launching punches, kicks, and attempts to grapple.

“Chat Noir, we need to pull back and rest while we come up with a plan of attack.” Ladybug instructed, dodging the grip of a lunging living ice sculpture. Chat Noir nodded in affirmation, before extending his staff and twirling it harshly in a circle, momentarily knocking over the surrounding minions and giving Ladybug the freedom to grab him and launch them up to the rooftops. After running a considerable distance, the pair felt safe to sit down and rest against an old-fashioned chimney.

“Did you see what the akumatised item was? I couldn’t see anything.” Ladybug checked between heavy breathes. Chat Noir shook his head, before his expression shifted to one of brainstorming.

“Maybe it’s hidden underneath the veil?” He suggested. Ladybug felt like a lightbulb had lit above her head.

“Chaton, I think it _is_ the veil!” She announced hopefully. Chat Noir opened his mouth as if to respond, but was interrupted by cruel laughter.

“So you finally figured it out. Too bad it’s too late!” Hearthbreaker jeered, Ladybug snapping her head to the source of the sound to see her standing on the other side of the roof smiling with a snarl. Now that they knew what the item was, it was go time.

“It’s never too late when luck is on your side! Lucky Charm!” Ladybug cried out. Her yo-yo spun upwards and in a burst of magic a photo frame appeared before falling into her hands. Inspecting what the frame contained, Ladybug saw a photograph of a beautiful teenage girl with stunning, chocolate brown waves cascading down one side of her face. Ladybug couldn’t tell if she belonged on the catwalk or in Hollywood movies, all she knew was she was gorgeous.

“What have we got LB?” Chat Noir asked as he distracted Hearthbreaker by sparring with his staff.

“It’s just a picture of a really pretty girl, I don’t know what I’m meant to do with it.” She answered back honestly as she stared at the image.

“Show it to me. I might recognise her and it could give us a hint about what to do.” Chat Noir offered between grunts as he and Hearthbreaker fought for control over his staff. She turned the frame to face him and watched his brow furrow with concentration. He didn’t seem to recognise her, but surprisingly enough, Hearthbreaker did.

“Wha- that’s me…or what I used to be before becoming Hearthbreaker. Why do you have that?” Hearthbreaker questioned, sounding confused and hurt. Ladybug gasped at the information involuntarily.

“This was you? Who in the world would be stupid enough to walk away from someone this beautiful?” Ladybug exclaimed with shock. Realising she had spoken out loud, Ladybug looked up from the photo to see both Chat Noir and Hearthbreaker standing still with surprise.

“You really think I’m beautiful?” Hearthbreaker asked softly and full of hope.

“Breathtaking.” Ladybug sighed in response. Hearthbreaker relaxed entirely, leading to Hawkmoth attempting to contact her and snap her out of her daze.

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir cried out, before bringing his hand down onto the veil and disintegrating the fabric. Out of the dust flew the familiar darkened butterfly, which attempted to flutter away from the scene undetected. Ladybug managed to shake herself out of her reverie in time to complete her purification process. Once she had spread the Miraculous Cure over the city, the victim came to and the super hero duo did their traditional fist bump. The victim, now a beautiful girl again, clung to a gorgeous scarf sadly.

“What happened? I tried to give Henri this scarf to win him over, but he scoffed in my face and walked away. Did I become…oh no.” The victim thought out loud, horrified by her revelation.

“Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us. If it’s worth anything to you, I think he’s an absolute buffoon if he treated someone like you like that.” Ladybug reassured.

“Yeah! He’s missing out on a total cat-ch!” Chat Noir added with a playful grin. The girl giggled and smiled with gratitude at the heroes. The duo helped her get down from the roof and waved her on her way, before Chat Noir turned to Ladybug with a serious expression.

“Do you still need to talk?” He asked, voice laced with concern.

~

Chat Noir watched Ladybug’s face twist into multiple expressions as her mind seemed to flip through calculations of what to do. Whatever has been distracting her must either be something that could hurt his feelings or is extremely personal and could give away her identity.

“I could use some advice.” She admitted quietly, gesturing with a head tilt back towards the roof. Understanding that she wanted to talk somewhere harder to be eavesdropped on, He used his staff to lift him back onto the roof as she sprung up with her yo-yo. Once they had both sat down, Ladybug cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Have you ever…had a moment with another guy that made you think you might be attracted to men?” She asked, clearly nervous. Even though the question surprised him, his mind immediately had an answer. He remembered the warm way he felt when Luka helped him back onto his feet when he met him, and the way his heart skipped a beat when he saw Carapace for the first time.

“Yeah, I guess. But at that point I was already in love with you, so I never pursued that line of thought.” He admitted. He didn’t have a problem with finding guys attractive, it really was that he only had eyes for his lady. He notices her body language relax with relief, which means he made the right call being honest.

“Is this about today’s victim?” He questioned curiously. She did seem to have quite the reaction to her picture after all. The question startled Ladybug out of her relaxed posture.

“No, it wasn’t her that made me realise…” She began to explain, before her earrings beeped three times in warning. A hand flew to one of her earrings as she rose to her feet.

“I’ve got to go! Thanks for the talk chaton; you really helped me feel better.” She farewelled frantically, but still with warmth, before zipping off into the distance. Despite being glad that he had helped her, he couldn’t help but feel his stress levels rising as he made his way home. She didn’t say it blatantly, but it was clear that Ladybug had met a girl who made her realise that she was attracted to girls. If she likes girls now too, that means his competition for her heart had now doubled. As he leapt over a particularly wide gap in the rooftops, he realised that he probably should have seen this coming. Ladybug had made a point of how cute Marinette was when she sent him to protect her. The idea of Marinette being competition for winning over Ladybug quadrupled his stress levels. Marinette was so beautiful, talented, and overall amazing. He’d have no chance compared to her. A pit formed in his stomach as something dawned on him. What if Marinette was the girl who had caught Ladybug’s eye? If she was, he was so screwed. Finally reaching the Agreste estate, Chat Noir flung himself in through his open window and with a sigh, dropped his transformation.

“Oh, thank god it’s just you. I thought you were a cat burglar or something.” Adrien jumped as his head snapped in the direction the familiar voice came from. Sitting on his couch, looking like she was recovering from a shock, was the blonde girl from the shoot. He took back what he thought earlier; now he was screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we get to properly meet Felicity!


	3. Family Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity and Adrien get to know each other and meet their uncles for the first time

Felicity felt her heart racing as the driver that her father had hired to chaperone her at the photoshoot pulled her towards the back exit she had arrived through. From the screaming outside to the crew members rushing to leave around her, it was clear that something dangerous was going on. It was unfortunately typical that nobody around her bothered explained what was going on. Before she knew it, she had been pushed back into the hired car and was being driven off to another location. Checking the door, it seemed that the driver had learnt from her escape earlier and had activated the child-lock. She leant back in her seat with a sigh. It was probably better that she not end up in the middle of whatever the chaos was about, and she supposed she’d have to see the hotel room at some point.

After a while of driving, she noticed the car turn to enter through the gates of a rather impressive estate instead of a hotel as she expected. Her father never had her stay at someone’s home, so what was going on? Parking the car near the front entrance, the driver got out and swiftly opened her door for her. As she exited the car, a stoic looking woman stepped out from the entrance to the house. She stood with a professional grace that suited her elegant work attire, and the way she held the tablet in her hands gave Felicity the impression that the device was almost an extension of her. As she made eye contact with the woman, her eyes widened with surprise, before resetting to a neutral expression.

“Follow me, Felicity.” The woman ordered, before turning on her heel and disappearing back through the door. Felicity nodded in acknowledgement to the driver before heading over to the door. Once inside, Felicity was met with a startlingly white interior that made a large, dark portrait behind a staircase stand out above everything else in the room. In the portrait was a man and the boy she saw at the shoot, who she could only assume was her cousin Adrien. She guess that made the man in the portrait her uncle and this house their home. The more she looked at the portrait, the more she recognised her uncle from when she was much younger. She couldn’t remember much at all from the visit, but the faces of her aunt and uncle remained in her memory. Felicity could definitely see the strong resemblance between herself and Adrien, right down to the forlorn expression that had been captured by the artist. Why they’d want to hang such a sad looking image at the front of their home was beyond Felicity’s comprehension. She had always imagined that if she were to have a home, she’d want it to feel as warm and inviting as possible. This place just felt weirdly haunted. The woman who had “greeted” her was waiting at the foot of the staircase, adjusting her glasses. Once Felicity reached her, the two of them began walking up the stairs.

“Your guest room has not been prepared yet, so you may stay with Adrien in his room until it is ready for you. He is meant to be practising piano though, so try not to distract him too much.” The woman instructed, turning up the side stairway with very sharp, precise movements. Eventually they reached a closed door, which the woman unlocked and pushed open for her. As she entered, she noticed that the woman was not following her.

“Let Adrien know if you need anything; I have business to attend to for now.” With that statement, the woman closed the door again, and Felicity could hear that she had locked it once more. She sighed, realising she wasn’t going anywhere, before heading further into the room. Out of all the things that caught her attention about the room, the fact that nobody was in here was at the top of the list. Looking between the speaker playing piano music and the open window, it didn’t take too many brain cells to figure out what was going on. Felicity grinned to herself. So her cousin was an escape artist too, huh? Her heart filled with hope that the two of them would get along well. That is, when he gets back.

~

Adrien stared at the girl, absolutely mortified by his mistake. Sure, he never has guests in his room, but he should have considered the possibility of Nathalie, the Gorilla, or one of the cleaning staff being in his room before swinging in blindly, let alone detransforming instantly. The girl was watching him, face growing more awkward by the second.

“So…are you going to explain the magic outfit thing or…” She prompted, gesticulating a ‘go on’ signal with her hands. Adrien felt confusion rise within his mind. Did transforming in front of her not give away his identity as Chat Noir? Why was this random girl who looks so much like his mother in his room to begin with?

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” He asked, hoping to dodge talking about the other thing. Her eyes narrowed as if she was just as confused as he was. He couldn’t help but wonder about how closely his expression matched hers.

“Do you not know who I am?” She questioned, rising to her feet and cautiously approaching him. She seemed pretty sure that he should know who she is, and it definitely felt like she meant it in a “we’ve met before” way than a “I’m super famous you should have heard about me” way. Looking at her, she felt so familiar, but he was sure it was just because she looked so much like his mother. He really shouldn’t have tuned out when his father was explaining who he would be working with. Apparently taking too long to respond, the girl huffed.

“I’m Felicity? Your cousin?”

“What?! Cousin?!” Adrien exclaimed with surprise. His father had never mentioned the fact that he had a cousin before, so the information was quite shocking. Felicity’s eyes flew wide open before she began shushing and gesturing to keep it down.

“Please be quiet! The woman with the glasses thinks you’ve been in here the entire time so it would be really suss if it sounds like you are surprised to see me!” She whispered frantically. Adrien tensed, realising how close it had been from Nathalie realising he wasn’t in his room. She must have sent Felicity in without even looking inside.

“You knew I was meant to be here and you didn’t tell on me?” He questioned. Surely most people would have said something if someone appeared to be missing.

“Of course I didn’t snitch. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble. Besides, surely a cat-boy such as yourself has heard the expression “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”? I’d like to think if I covered for you, you’d cover for me if I wanted to sneak out.” She explained, a mischievous expression flashing across her face. It only last a few moments, before her smile dropped.

“Did you really not know about me?” She asked, sounding disappointed. Adrien shook his head.

“Father might have mentioned it this morning while I was spacing out, but besides that he’s never mentioned you. The only family I think he or mother has ever mentioned was my mother’s brother, but that was years ago.” Felicity nodded grimly.

“That checks out. I think our parents had a huge falling out, because my dad never mentions you guys. He only started talking about you and your dad again when he started planning our working visit. I remember visiting here when I was younger, but I can only remember your mother and father, so I guess I can’t get upset you don’t remember me either. I just assumed you recognised me by the way you looked at me before.” She explained as best she could.

“Sorry, you reminded me of my mother.” He revealed, hoping that if she heard the tremor in his voice, she would choose to ignore it. There was a twinkle of realisation in her eyes, before her entire expression dropped into something solemn.

“Oh.”

“That might be the reason father never talked about you. He has trouble dealing with anything that reminds him of maman. Even me, most of the time.” Adrien elaborated grimly, walking over to his couch and dropping onto it ungracefully. Felicity regarded what he had said for a moment, before nodding in agreement and joining him on the couch.

“I get what you mean. Father took it really hard when he found out his sister disappeared. He’s been spiralling ever since, and I don’t think he’s been able to look at me for more than five consecutive seconds. They were twins, so I think I must look like how she did when they were our age. Not that I would really know, though. Father doesn’t keep any photos so all I have to go off are memories.” She told him with a disappointed sigh. It was strange for Adrien to look at her, especially right now. He’d seen the expression enough on his own face for it to feel less like he was looking at his mother and more like he was looking in a mirror.

“Would you like to see a picture of her?” He offered, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. Felicity nodded enthusiastically and he scooted closer as he brought up the folder containing his favourite pictures of his mother.

“Oh, wow. We really do look like her.” She commented as she flicked through the images, until she came across a photo of him and his mother laughing together. Adrien loved that photo, but he couldn’t look at it for very long before being overwhelmed by sadness. There was a twinkle in his mother’s eyes in that photo that he only ever saw these days if he caught his reflection as Chat Noir. The thought pulled him back to the biggest issue on hand.

“Felicity…what you saw earlier…can you not tell anyone about it? It’s a really important secret and absolutely nobody else knows about it.” His request seemed to startle her out of the daze she had sunk into as she looked at the photo. Glancing up at him, she offered a genuine, warm smile.

“I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me, Adrien. That’s what family is for, right?” She promised. He wasn’t sure how, but Adrien just knew she meant it. Without any warning, he pulled her into a tight hug.

“Thank you.” He whispered gratefully. After recovering from her surprise, Felicity returned the hug just as wholeheartedly.

“Give me a break! This is too cheesy, even for me!” Plagg whined, phasing out from his squished position in the hug and flying off towards Adrien’s bag where his current wheel of camembert was being stored. Adrien let go of his cousin to turn and glare at the tiny god.

“Plagg! What are you doing?” He hissed. Without facing him, Plagg waved dismissively as he fished his cheese out.

“Relax, kid. You already blew your cover and decided you trust her, so there wasn’t any point of me hiding any longer. Especially when I am starving to death.” Before Adrien could argue with the kwami’s logic, there was a high pitched squeal emitting from beside him that broke his line of thought. He whipped his head to the side to see Felicity beaming with joy.

“You have a magic cat? He’s so cute!” She excitedly whispered, pressing her hands into her cheeks. Plagg perked up, turning around with half a large wedge of camembert sticking out of his mouth.

“You hear thad? I’b cude!” Plagg mumbled smugly, mouth still full of cheese. Adrien rolled his eyes.

“He is, but you get over it pretty quickly.” He commented dryly, making Plagg chuckle.

“One could say the same for you, kitten.” Plagg quipped back, floating back to his holder having finished his feed. The kwami landed on Adrien’s lap and curled up to take a nap. Adrien smiled fondly as he gave him a little pat on the head.

“I suppose you’d like some sort of explanation?”

Adrien then went on to explain that roughly a year ago, a super villain named Hawkmoth showed up, leading to Adrien receiving the black cat Miraculous and becoming Chat Noir, one half of Paris’ superhero duo. Apparently, to the rest of the world outside of Paris, the whole superhero thing had been dismissed as some sort of marketing campaign for the city.

“So superheroes are real and my cousin is one of them? This is so cool! I’ve literally dreamed of being a superhero!” She exclaimed as softly as she could in her excitement, before a thought seemed to cross her mind.

“Speaking of dreams, I met one today.” She revealed with a sigh, flopping to the side dramatically.

“You met a dream?” Adrien questioned, startled both by how quickly the topic changed, and by what she said all together.

“Yeah. I met this girl that looks just like the one I see in my dreams. She tripped and I caught her. Oh Adrien, you should have seen the look she gave me! It was seriously just like in my dreams, I’m not entirely sure it even happened. Especially the way she held my cheek and leaned in like she was going to kiss me. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds too good to be true. I probably daydreamed the whole thing. Including the croissant.” Her retelling of events having turned to lament, Felicity gave a sadder sigh than before and covered her face with her arm.

“Just so you know, this is exactly how you look and sound when you are going on about girls.” Plagg whispered loudly to Adrien. At the sound of the comment, Felicity jolted up in a panic.

“Girls? I don’t like girls! I don’t know why I said that. I – ” She began to rant, before Adrien shushed her gently.

“Felicity, it’s completely okay if you like girls; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, one of the best, most stable relationships I know is between two girls in my class.” He reassured, resting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

“I know, it’s just…can you not tell my father? I started showing signs that I like girls and he got pretty annoyed at me. Apparently being gay lowers my marketability or whatever.” She mumbled out, sounding defeated. Adrien was seething with anger. How could her own father find her appeal to the masses more important than her own happiness and identity? He quickly pushed away the question in his mind asking him if his own father would treat him the same way if he showed signs of being gay.

“That is awful! Even if it were true about the marketability, he shouldn’t let a handful of brand deals stand between you and something that would make you truly happy.” Adrien stated with a growl.

“It’s never stopped him before. Anyway, he made me promise to not be gay, so can you please not tell him?” Felicity pleaded desperately. It honestly hurt to see her look so scared. He thought back to what she had promised to keep secret for him. She got him to trust her, it’s only fair he do the same.

“That’s what family is for, right?” He said, echoing her own words and warm smile back at her.

~

After that, Felicity found it incredibly easy to talk to Adrien. The two of them were comparing the worst things that their father’s had gotten them to do in an advertisement campaign when the woman with glasses, who she had learned was called Nathalie and was basically her cousin’s caretaker, entered the room to announce that it was time for them to attend dinner. She walked down to the dining hall with Adrien in matching strides as they joked about the weird people they had both had to meet at boring dinner parties. As they laughed particularly loud, Nathalie turned back to glance at them curiously. She didn’t smile, but the glint in her eyes told Felicity that the woman was happy to see them get along. Entering the dining hall, Felicity saw her father standing in his very recognisable “this is taking too long” stance.

“Nathalie, I was told that this dinner would start at seven, which was five minutes ago. Is Gabriel always this late, or is it just my time in particular that is worth wasting?” He asked impatiently, apparently having not noticed her or Adrien behind the target of his beratement.

“Monsieur Agreste had important work to finish before he could attend dinner. I offer you his deepest apologies and assure you that the wait will not be for much longer.” Nathalie replied neutrally, absolutely unaffected by her father’s attitude.

“How about you go tell him I’m not a man who can be made to wait.” He snapped back in a cold tone. Felicity cringed at her father’s behaviour. It was so embarrassing how impatient he was being about having to wait for five minutes.

“Of course, Monsieur Vogel.” Nathalie replied, still clearly unmoved by her father’s anger, before turning on her heel and swiftly exiting the room. Only then did her father’s eyes widen as he realised the teenagers in the room. Suddenly, his entire expression lit up as he paced over to her cousin.

“You must be Adrien! I am Victor, your uncle. It’s wonderful to finally meet you!” He greeted cheerfully with an enthusiastic handshake, a complete shift from the mood he was in only a moment ago. Felicity was pretty used to it; her father often shifted from being irritated at her to suddenly sucking up to potential business associates. She was only surprised that he was being rude to Nathalie and being nice to Adrien, as it would follow his usual behaviour more for it to be the complete reverse. Adrien shook her father’s hand, a confused look spreading over his face.

“I thought you had visited before when I was younger.” He questioned, quickly looking at her before looking back at her father, who suddenly tensed. Fighting back a reaction, she knew what was coming.

“Did Felicity tell you that? She has this idea in her head that she’s met her aunt and uncle before, even though I’ve told her repeatedly that this isn’t the case.” He corrected, not looking away from Adrien, or releasing his grip on his hand. Every time Felicity had tried to bring up the memory of her aunt and uncle, her father had shut it down aggressively. She assumed that something bad happened at the time which led to a falling out, so he was lying to cover up whatever it was. Why else would he get so defensive if she had simply just made it up?

“Oh, okay. It’s just that when I saw you, I thought I remembered seeing you before. I must be getting confused from looking at a photograph or something when I was little. My mistake.” Adrien diffused, bringing his free hand to the back of his neck and rubbing nervously. This seemed to have done the trick, as her father smiled again and finally let go of Adrien’s hand.

“No harm done, my boy. Now I must say, I’ve been following your career and I’ve been nothing less than impressed with the amount of talent you have shown. To be honest I am probably being biased. I mean, just look at how much you look like me!” Her father raved in a cheeky tone, his friendly demeaner back in full swing.

“I’ve always found he looks more like his mother.” Felicity spun around to see the man she recognised as Gabriel Agreste standing in the doorway. Her uncle sported a frown thinly hid behind an attempt at a neutral expression. Whipping back to look at her father, she saw a flash of anger that hid behind a forced smile.

“For now. I have no doubt that as he becomes a man he will look more and more like me every day.” Her father replied, as if he were challenging him. She locked eyes with Adrien, who shared a concerned look with her. He already proved he was pretty good at diffusing tension, so hopefully he could pull it off again.

“Father, have you had a chance to meet Felicity yet?” Adrien asked, gesturing to her with a trained grace and etiquette. As Gabriel shifted his gaze to where his son had gestured and his eyes fell upon her, his stoic appearance broke quite quickly. In about a second, his eyes widened and twitched as his whole body recoiled, before suddenly reset itself back to neutral. Adrien was not exaggerating about his father not being able to handle anything that reminded him of his wife.

“Good evening, Felicity. Sorry to have kept you waiting. All this magic nonsense always puts a delay on my work.” Gabriel apologised politely, arms twitching toward her before returning behind his back, hands firmly clasped to each other. If she were to hazard a guess, the man wasn’t sure if he should treat her in a familial way or a professional way. Willing to move on, he paced swiftly to the dining table and sat at his placement. Her father made his way over to the table in a restrained huff, shortly followed by her and Adrien. The pair sat together opposite Adrien’s father, her own sitting at the head of the table. As soon as they were all seated, a kitchen staff emerged from the entrance and began pouring iced water in each glass, quickly followed by two more staff who placed entrée dishes in front of each person.

 “It is lovely to finally meet you after hearing how wonderful you are from my industry contacts. You have built quite the reputation as a headstrong, clever girl.” Gabriel commented. Felicity couldn’t help the heat that travelled to her cheeks at the compliment. The man himself had also made a reputation for himself, as a hard to please perfectionist. It made the kind words weigh more.

“Thank you, sir.” She thanked earnestly. Her father scoffed from the side.

“You shouldn’t encourage her to be rude to companies offering her deals. It will damage her reputation.” He warned, irritation clearly building.

“On the contrary, Victor. By refusing to work with unsavoury companies, she will only raise public trust in her. Saying yes to every deal is a guaranteed way of nobody believing in what you promote.” Gabriel corrected calmly.

“That’s what I said!” Felicity exclaimed, before realising what she had done and retreating back into herself. Feeling a bump from her side, she glanced over to see Adrien giving her a supportive smile and a thumbs up.

“Says the man who only promotes his own work.” Her father grumbled a retort. In a surprising turn, Gabriel smirked.

“That’s just because I have very high standards.” Gabriel quipped, before his face dropped to something more polite as he tucked into his food.

Not wanting to focus on the thick tension between the men, Felicity and Adrien returned to their light-hearted conversation, moving on to the best food they’ve had at catering tables for photoshoots. Her uncle’s mood seemed to lighten fractionally, as a subtle smile grew as he watched the pair talk about ideal cheat days.

“Tomorrow is my next cheat day, so I’m going to have a picnic with my friends in the park. Maybe you could come with me and meet all my friends!” Adrien suggested, eyes lighting up at the idea.

“Tomorrow? Adrien, you’re not free tomorrow.” Gabriel interrupted.

“Yes I am. I confirmed with Nathalie that you said I could go!” Her cousin argued.

“That was before today’s shoot was delayed. It was moved to tomorrow morning. Looking at how long it is meant to take, I can’t imagine you’ll make the picnic.” Gabriel informed, face returning to the uncaring, stoic expression. Adrien’s face fell.

“Oh. Okay. I’ll inform my friends I won’t make it after dinner, then.” Adrien stated, looking absolutely miserable. A pang of empathy hit her right in the heart. Her cousin had been so excited about being able to spend time with his friends; it hurt to see him lose that.

“If we work really hard tomorrow and the shoot ends early, could he hang out with his friends afterwards? Maybe they’ll be okay with pushing the picnic back for him.” Felicity suggested. Gabriel paused to consider what she said.

“You’d have to push yourselves to focus the entire time, with no silly business or distracting each other. Do you think you can work together well enough to get what the photographers need faster?” He questioned. She made eye contact quickly with Adrien, nodding at him as he looked at her with a hopeful expression, before turning back to her uncle.

“Without a doubt.” She answered confidently. Gabriel sighed.

“Fine. Adrien, if you manage to finish the shoot early without compromising quality, you may keep your plans to spend time with your school friends.” He announced his decision, resulting in Adrien cheering with excitement.

“Thank you, father! Can Felicity come too? Please?” Adrien asked with a hopeful sparkle in his eyes.

“That is up to Victor, not me.” Gabriel responded with a slight shrug. In complete synchronisation Felicity and Adrien turned to her father, waiting for his answer.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for you to be seen spending time with the local socialites. Just remember to control yourself. I don’t want another repeat of today, do you hear me?” Her father warned, a serious look in his eyes told her what he meant.

“Yes, father.” She answered meekly. Beside her, she could hear Adrien growling under his breath. Realising he must have understood what her father meant, she hoped he would be able to not say anything in retaliation. She noticed Gabriel looking from her father, to Adrien, then to her with a look of confusion as he seemed to try to piece together what was going on.

“I mean honestly, what if a tabloid paparazzi had seen you with that girl? Your slip up could have cost you your career.” Her father berated, his disappointment in her seeming to override his need to compete with his brother-in-law in who is better at keeping up appearances.

“Now Victor, that’s quite harsh and unrealistic. It surely wouldn’t hurt for people to see that she is sought after. Adrien was caught and photographed with a girl in her pyjamas sitting in a public fountain and it only boosted his popularity.” Gabriel interjected casually.

“Yes, but he’s a boy, it’s fine for him to be seen with a girl.” Her father argued back, in an “everyone knows this” tone. Felicity froze in fear. Was her uncle going to agree with him, argue, or drop it? She felt Adrien slip his hand into hers and give her a comforting squeeze. His expression made him look just as concerned as she felt. Looking back at Gabriel, she saw his eyes had narrowed.

“Do _you_ seriously have a problem with people being gay, Victor?” Gabriel asked, voice riddled with disbelief, and expression on the verge of disdain. Her father flinched at the question, which was surprising.

“No, of course not. I just don’t want the public to think she is gay. She’d lose the demographic of straight men from her fanbase and a bunch of her sponsorship deals if a rumour like that got out.” Her father reasoned. Just like every other time she had heard this speech, it hurt to feel like she was only worth the money she could bring in.

“In the least shocking turn of events, everything you just said was wrong. Public figures having their net worth drop because of their sexuality hasn’t been a thing for decades, and if sponsorships dropped it you could easily sue for discrimination. Lastly, it’s absolutely abhorrent that you expect your teenage daughter’s career to survive on her sexual appeal and availability to men. Her career depends on her exemplary talent and work ethic, not whether or not her fanbase believe they have a chance with her.” Gabriel berated, as if her father was a naughty child who had broken something valuable while doing something stupid. It was _amazing_.

~

It was dangerous to go off at Victor considering the man hated him and was waiting to find something to ruin him with, but when his Miraculous made him sense the fear that radiated from both teens in front of him, he knew he had to step up. The pain of not being loved for who you are and only being treated like a source of money was unpleasantly expected; Victor was horribly unlike Emelie and considering all the appalling things the man had done, forcing his daughter to be something she is not was not a stretch. What did surprise him was the fear he sensed from Adrien. His son was actually scared that he would agree with Victor! Had he ever behaved in a way that would make the boy believe he’d have a problem with him wanting to date boys? Truth be told he didn’t care what gender or identity Adrien’s future life partner was, as long as they met his standards as a person. Afterall, he would prefer Adrien date the talented artist who was still a thoughtful person even as an akuma than that girl who’d rather lie than actually accomplish anything in a heartbeat. But, if his son was afraid, that meant that he had failed to be transparent with his opinions on the matter. So, despite the threat of triggering his brother-in-law onto a warpath, Gabriel knew he had to call him out for the sake of the children.

The rage that radiated out of Victor was indulgently satisfying. He was considering whether it was worth it or not to make an akuma that was specifically after him again when the man in question seemed to catch something in the corner of his eye and turned his head, only for his emotion to dramatically shift into panic. Gabriel shifted his line of sight to see what had changed Victor’s mood so drastically. Looking at Gabriel like he had hung the stars himself, was his sweet young niece. It was the same expression Adrien gave him whenever he hugged him or offered to spend time with him, which made him feel a heavy pang in his heart.

_“L…”_

Gabriel narrowly avoided flinching in surprise at the sudden thought in his head. Or rather, the start of a thought that was cut off. It was as if he remembered something for a second, only for it to vanish just as quickly as it arrived. Sensing that whatever it was meant to be was painful, Gabriel pushed it aside to return his attention to Victor. Looking between Felicity’s reverent look and Adrien’s proud smile, the man opened and closed his mouth several times before clearing his throat.

“I…never realised how out of date or inappropriate my marketing opinions were. I should never had tried to control how you felt. Can you forgive me?” He admitted sheepishly, looking at his daughter with what he surely thought was a humble expression.

“Of course, father!” Felicity replied cheerfully, absolutely beaming at Victor. Seeing the blind love and trust she had in Victor caused a pit to form in Gabriel’s stomach. She was so ready to let go of what could have been years of pain simply because of one small step in the right direction, and he hadn’t even really made an effort at all. What made him feel even worse was that he knew he had done the same thing to Adrien. Having anything in common with that man made Gabriel feel truly sick. Attempting to distract himself, he watched Adrien and Felicity happily chat together, both seemingly riding the high from having a positive experience with their respective fathers.

In that moment, Gabriel became resolved to prove he was a better man than Victor. When he finally woke Emelie up, he wanted her to be proud of who he was while she was gone. But more than that, he owed it to Adrien to give him the love he had always deserved in the way that he had needed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is finally starting his journey to redemption, but the road won't be smooth, even if paved with good intentions.
> 
> Now that Felicity is free to be herself (to a degree), how will she act when she meets Marinette properly the next day, and how will Marinette handle it?


End file.
